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Another female osprey has been making regular visits around the Glaslyn site.  She is distinctive because one of her primary feathers on her right wing is missing.  She's probably going through a moult at the moment, which would explain the missing feather.  Birds of prey do moult once a year, and usually feather by feather, so that it doesn't affect their ability to fly.

Far from being sent off with a flea in her ear, the relationship between the Glaslyn pair and this new missy, seems quite amicable.  Almost chummy in fact.  A few days ago the Glalsyn male and the new girl were spotted flying off southwards together over Llyn Mair (that's Lake Mary in English).  What will his missus think?!

The three eggs - a fourth never emerged despite all the frantic last minute mating - are being incubated nicely in the nest.  Time is flying by.  We are almost into May already, and it's just under 3 weeks until we expect the first egg to hatch. 

Meanwhile, down on the ground, naturalist and broadcaster Iolo Williams spent the day here yesterday filming for a new series.  He has been a great supporter of the osprey site and it's always good to have him around and chatting with the visitors.  More than 5000 people have already visited us so far this season.

For the first time this year, we have residential volunteers working with us at the osprey site.   We have a caravan on the Aberdunant caravan park where volunteers stay for 1 or 2 weeks at a time and have had some great helpers already.  We're currently being assisted by Anne and Margaret who have got stuck in helping visitors and giving us a hand at the protection site - thanks girls!  The residential volunteering scheme is fully booked up for this year, but if you would like to find out more about how to book for next year, or peruse the other residential schemes available then visit www.rspb.org.uk/volunteering

Three perfect little osprey eggs are now snuggled up in the Glaslyn nest.  The female has been incredibly busy since our last blog entry.  She laid her second egg on Friday (11 April) at around 4.15pm and a third on Monday (14 April) at 12.15pm.  All of her eggs have emerged in the afternoon within just a few hours of each other, which is becoming the signature-style of this female - she was quite clockwork in her delivery last year too.

The interesting thing about the third egg is the peculiar patterning.  Whilst the other two have an even splattering of red and cream colouring, the mottling on this third egg is much more distinctive. One half is almost entirely cream in colour and the other almost entirely red.  It does look unusual alongside the others.  It also means that we will be able to identify this egg quite easily now on the nest-cam, whereas the other two look the same.  We should be able to lift a still image from our nest-cam to show you soon. 

You would think that the pair would be satisfied with three eggs to care for, but since the third laying they have been busying themselves by mating again.  It is possible that the female will lay a fourth.  This is more common among experienced birds, and ours are in their fifth successive season now, so a fourth egg is not out of the question.  We will let you know...

Most days we have seen a third osprey in the area.  This happened last year too - a third bird that hadn't managed to hook up with a partner kept showing up and trying to cause a bit of fuss.  Whether this mischievous little attention-seeker is the same as last year is impossible to tell.  There could even be more than one bird, but we never see more than one at a time.  Perhaps these birds are still in the final stages of migration to their breeding areas.

The intruder osprey that appeared yesterday must have been a male, as he was displaying over the nest trying to impress the female whilst the Glaslyn male was on a fishing trip.  He disappeared before the Glaslyn male returned but showed up again whilst the female was eating her fish on a nearby feeding tree.  The Glaslyn male had taken over incubation duties while the missus ate and could not leave the eggs to see this intruder off, so the female (and her fish) went up to chase the cheeky chap away.  Job done she returned to stuffing her face in the tree, what a woman!  The Glaslyn female showed herself to be a fiesty contender last year, fiercely protective of her brood, so it's good to see she's back on top form.

The Glaslyn female has laid her first egg of the season!  It happened at 17:16 yesterday teatime.  It was getting towards the end of the day, so only a handful of visitors were here to witness it live on the nest-cam.

The female was visibly agitated and kept getting up and down, engaging in displacement activity and generally fussing about the nest.  Eventually, she sat back down and flattened herself down across the nest.  We know this 'pancake' approach well enough by now.  A little shiver along her flattened back was the only outward sign of anything happening below, but seconds later she stood up to have a look and we saw the egg for ourselves. 

This image was captured from the nest-cam just seconds after laying, as she sits up to have a look at what's underneath her. She looks ever so slightly dazed - but who wouldn't - and you can see the egg quite clearly here, with maroon and cream mottling.

The male had been on the nest the whole time, watching her, but as soon as the egg was revealed, he bounded over for a closer look, literally sticking his beak into the action.  He got the brush off from 'mummy' who nudged him away but less than a minute later they were both stood up rubbing beaks, sharing a tender little moment together.  Well it certainly looked that way to us soft-hearted romantics on the ground.

This little egg will be the focus of the female's attention for the next 37 days, as she dedcates herself to incubating.  She'll spend most of her time sitting on top of it - and any other eggs that emerge over the coming days. We would expect another one to appear tomorrow (Thursday) and possibly a third over the weekend.

There's no danger of the egg being crushed, she's very gentle with it.  The feathers at the base of her chest are a little thinner than elsewhere on her body, allowing eggs to nestle in and be closer to her skin, so that they get more body heat.  Whilst the egg has been inside her, its temperature has been very consistent and efficiently regulated, so during these first few days after laying, it's vital that she maintains a regular temperature for the egg.

It will be a pretty idle 5 weeks for the female, apart from a few short flights to stretch her wings she will be sat on the nest the whole time.  She will also get up for short intervals to nudge the egg over so that her heat gets distributed evenly.

So, one egg is safely out and there may well be more to come.  Keep checking for news of more eggs over the next few days.  Whilst the female is potentially laying a third egg over the weekend, I will be running the London Marathon to raise money for the RSPB's Save the Sumatran Rainforest campaign.  In the time it takes me to complete the run, around 6000 hectares of the World's forests will have been destroyed.  If you want to help, please visit www.justgiving.com/wendyjohnson Many thanks!